LILIA VU WINS THE CHEVRON CHAMPIONSHIP

LILIA VU EARNS SECOND-CAREER VICTORY AT THE CHEVRON CHAMPIONSHIP

As temperatures dropped at The Club at Carlton Woods, a new major champion rose to the occasion at The Chevron Championship. When the dust settled from a one-hole playoff, it was Lilia Vu holding the Dinah Shore trophy after taking a dip, continuing the pond-jump tradition made famous at Mission Hills Country Club.

“I think the emotions were high and just adrenaline, got to jump into that pond,” said Vu. But the journey to the jump was a gripping tale.

The 25-year-old started the day four shots back of overnight leaders Allisen Corpuz and Angel Yin, both searching to become Rolex First-Time Winners. The skies were gray and winds were picking with gusts up to 20mph. Dangerous weather conditions delayed play for 50 minutes at 9 a.m., pushing starting times even further into the afternoon.

Corpuz struggled from the start, with four bogeys and one birdie in her first nine holes. Yin stayed steady, balancing a bogey on the first hole with a birdie on No. 4. Vu, five groups back of the leaders, notched three birdies and rose to 9-under overall before a bogey on 9 set her back. After seven-straight pars, Vu closed with back-to-back birdies to finish with the clubhouse lead at -10 after a final-round 68.

Vu stayed in scoring, electing to wait on media responsibilities with a potential playoff, or victory, on the horizon. She watched the coverage as Yin took the solo lead with a birdie on 13 and bogeyed No. 16 before heading to the driving range. Yin picked herself up after another bogey on 17 and took on the 72nd hole in an aggressive manner, eventually missing a 30-foot putt for eagle but draining a solid 5-foot birdie opportunity to face on Vu in extra holes.

Vu and Yin both found the fairway on the 73^rd hole but missed the green, with Vu finding the fringe and Yin in the water. “I hit a good drive. Honestly, I don’t know how it got that far. Maybe I hit something while it landed, but it was significantly further. I think when I actually played 18 during my round, I had a hybrid in, and then all of a sudden I had a 7-iron in on the playoff hole,” said…